Visit to Anderson Farms

On Friday (Oct 2) Ben called from work and said it had been a stressful day and I needed to plan something fun for the evening. He said something 'out of the norm.' We haven't been on any dates since having James and so I thought I would plan a fun date BUT make it kid-able (because I still don't want to get a babysitter for James). So Elizabeth and I planned a fun date night for the family.  We didn't tell Ben what we were doing  so he only learned our plan one step at a time.

We started the night going out for BBQ at one of Ben's favorite places, we then went to a corn maze at Andersen Farms and ended the night getting hot chocolate and cider at Starbucks (we had a gift card).

Elizabeth LOVED Andersen Farms.  Last time I had been there it was just a corn maze and a barn but that was over 15 years ago and it has changed a lot.  There is a kid maze, corn maze, haunted corn maze, a pumpkin Cinderella carriage, barrel train, tricycle go-carts and pumpkins everywhere. There is also a horse drawn hay ride and a petting zoo but we were there to late to see any animals.  I learned that Ben doesn't like corn mazes because he is constantly nervous that Jesse is going to jump out at him; thanks Jesse for the childhood trauma. 

Inside Cinderella's Carriage

 

Caught in a giant spider web.

 

Duck Pond

 

Ben got a little stuck.

 

 

 Elizabeth loved going on the rides and also got to pick a pumpkin to take home.  Every pumpkin she picked she would throw down in disgust because they were all dirty.  We had to explain to her that they were ALL dirty because they were grown in the dirt.  We ended up picking one for her and came home and washed it before she accepted it.

It was a fun night (we were out way to late for a toddler) and it was fun to be together!

GO BUFFS!

We got tickets and all went to a CU Football game on September 26. They played Nicholls (we have no idea who they are) and they beat them 48-0.  It was a fun game with some exciting moments. It was hot and I was good at getting the entire family sun screened but forgot myself; Luckily I was turned so only half my body got burnt. We left in the third quarter because we were all so hot and ready for naps but we were pretty sure they would win and we weren't going to miss much.  We are glad that we went and we had fun.  Elizabeth and James both have cute kid CU swag that is so cute.

 

This should be an add for Gatorade.

 

 

Murder Mystery Dinner

Ben and I decided to host a Murder Mystery Dinner with some of our friends to get us in the Halloween Spirit.  We got a 'kit' from my parents with all the characters, descriptions and clues.  We decided to have the party at my parents house because there is more room and it is beautiful. We hired two babysitters to watch all the kids in the basement  with pizza and snacks and Mom and Dad watched James upstairs. 

Our murder was set at a wealthy mansion in England in the 1930s.  Mom and Dad helped us prepare, plate and serve a beautiful authentic time period meal.  We had a green salad (not authentic), roast, potatoes, gravy, carrots, green beans, rolls, cucumber pickles and rolls. Our friends brought desserts (french pudding cups and pound cake with strawberries). We set up in the formal dining room with beautiful silver platters, goblets and napkin rings. It was so fancy and so beautiful. 

The owner of the mansion, Sir Roger Watersdown was murdered. My character was E.R.A, Sir Watersdown's Personal Secretary and hostess to the mansion since his wife's death.  Ben was Sir Watersdown's lawyer and golf friend and people knew him as Pro.  It was fun to dress up like our characters.  Ben wore old tradition golfing attire; cut off pants, high socks, and a sweater vest.  I wore a long gown, with a velvet 'business' coat and ruffled tie/bow. 

 

 We also had Ali (Mindy), a successful mystery author and Mal (Kevin) the family physician.

  

 Randy (Jaime), a very well known American movie star and Rog (Eric), Sir Roger's long lost illegitimate son and an avid rock climber.

Flo (Megan), an old beauty model and wife to Donny, Donny (Josh), a wealthy Financial Planner and Sir Roger's nephew.

 

 It was fun to see everyone's characters and see everyone try to portray their character; the girls did this more than the guys, some of the guys just read their parts.

Look of shock!

 

 

 

 

 

 

 No, I am not going to tell you who did it but I will mention that everyone had a motive and there were acrobatics, porn stars, more illegitimate children,  a missing will and blackmail involved.  The food was delicious and the timing of everything turned out perfect (thanks to my amazing parents).  We have amazing friends who are willing to do fun things like this with us.  And we had fun solving a muuurrrrdddeeerrr!

September

Elizabeth has been having really bad leg cramps that wake her up at night.  We tried everything to help her and heat seemed to work so together we made some heating packs.  She liked putting the rice in, and soon just began playing with the rice.  I learned that sewing around rice is hard and so all the lines are crooked but it does the job.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Elizabeth LOVES to sing and she has lately been making up her own songs.  She likes to stand on a bench and use it as a stage.  She always bows after her songs.  It is super cute. (So is her love for her brother- pictures all the same day).

 

 

 

 

 

Elizabeth, James and I all got bad head colds in September.  The kids got better quickly but my head cold lingered for three weeks; every day I would say, if I am not better tomorrow I will go to the doctor but I never did.  While I was sick Elizabeth and Ben went to a party and a Rockies game; they always have a lot of fun.

On September 19,  we went to the Baldpate Inn in Allen's Park with my parents; it was a late celebration of Mom's birthday and an early celebration of mine. It is always wonderful and the food tastes delicious.  We were a little disappointed at the lack of color in the mountains.  It turns out that there was a type of beetle (or something) that ruined all of the aspen, so we were missing our beautiful yellow/gold mountains. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

This year I turned 29! It was kind of an emotionally hard year for me because I am now officially older than Aaron when he passed away.  It is hard to know that my life is progressing, changing and aging and that he is not.  I have kids, hopefully will have more kids, will watch them grow up and will one day have grandkids.  He doesn't have these opportunities in front of him.  It is a different type of finality and loss to me this year and it made me a little sad and gloomy. 

However there was one especially wonderful moment on my birthday, when we got to go and see Jasen as he flew to the MTC to serve for two years in Fiji.  It was so amazing to see him and to see how he suddenly seemed transformed from a silly teenage boy to an amazingly powerful and confident adult.  He was so excited and so confident and it was wonderful to be able to see him again before he left.  He was able to meet James, although he cried or slept most of the time, and to spend more time with Elizabeth (so hopefully she will remember him, maybe, when he gets home). 

 

 

 

 

 

 

After gruelingly slow traffic on the way home we made it home for some Chipotle with Ben and cheese cake with Mom and Dad.  Ben and the kids got me some new exercise clothes, I got some kitchen stuff from the Newson's and I got a blender from Mom and Dad.  Although I was sad, it was wonderful to be surrounded by loved ones.

I started making smoothies with the blender I got from Mom and Dad for my birthday.  Elizabeth likes to help me make them, but doesn't like to drink them as much.

 

 

Speaking of smoothies, here is a facebook post from October 13: 

Diaper bag hiked up on shoulder, baby screaming in car seat, toddler being a toddler, bend down to pick up the carseat and the diaper bag flips up over my back/head spilling my breakfast shake all over my hair, back, down my leg and the floor. Going to get a towel I brushed past the toddler and got smoothie, from my sweater, all over her face and hair. I guess we are doing laundry and cleaning the carpets today.

Another big thing that happened in September is that Ben went and took the GMAT (the test needed to get into Grad School).  A little over a year ago he took an online course to prepare but life got crazy and he didn't end up taking the course.  He has thought about it since and never taken it, so he just decided to try and see how he did.  He did not do as well as he wanted to but he now knows what to expect and has gotten a little more motivation.  Now we just have to decide if he wants to go to Grad School.